Travis County Commissioners Court approved Central Health's $650 million fiscal year 2026-27 operating budget Sept. 15, including $127.5 million for crisis and recovery mental healthcare with $54 million in new investments.

The breakdown: New funding includes $33.1 million for 22 inpatient psychiatric beds and 10 psychiatric emergency department bays, $16 million for a new Mental Health Crisis Care Center, and smaller allocations for jail-based health support, an expanded crisis care team and medication access.

The budget also carries a tax rate of $0.132863 per $100 valuation, raising the median homeowner's bill by about $36 a year.

What's next: The new psychiatric beds could open within months, while the standalone crisis center is years away. Austin City Council is expected to receive a briefing on the related No Wrong Door initiative during its Oct. 6 work session.

The Austin Infrastructure Academy will receive an additional $2.55 million in city funds over four years to support its workforce training and jobs program. This funding, approved by the Austin City Council in September, follows an initial $5 million investment in the initiative led by Workforce Solutions Capital Area.

The details: The academy is connecting Austin-area residents with construction careers during major local infrastructure upgrades, including the I-35 expansion, Project Connect, the Austin Convention Center redevelopment, and the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport expansion.

By the numbers: According to a one-year report released in spring 2025, the initiative:

• Connected more than 1,500 residents to career opportunities

• Enrolled nearly 1,100 participants

• Awarded 162 training scholarships

• Raised participants' annual earnings

Austin voters can hear from candidates running for five City Council seats on this year's ballot at a series of moderated panels.

A closer look: The public forums are sponsored by the city, the Ethics Review Commission and the League of Women Voters Austin Area. Events will take place in-person in the relevant council districts, streamed live on ATXN and aired on KAZI FM 88.7.

Panels include:

• District 5 on Sept. 17

• District 8 on Sept. 21

• District 9 on Sept. 29

• District 3 on Oct. 1

• District 1 on Oct. 15

Voters can submit questions for the moderators by email or phone, and request interpretation services via 3-1-1 ahead of the events.

North Central Austin has several business updates, including new openings, relocations and milestones:

• Roccito’s Garden, a sister concept to Rocco’s Neighborhood Joint, is now open. The wine garden opened in August and is open Thursday through Sunday.

• Material Bespoke Stone + Tile relocated from Westlake to North Austin on Aug. 3. The store offers stone, glass and ceramic tiles, as well as custom architectural stonework.

• AFS Cinema is undergoing construction to add an additional screen. The renovations are scheduled to debut this fall and will not disrupt regular programming.

• Austin Flower Co. celebrated its 30th anniversary on Aug. 26. The flower shop was founded in 1996 and is led by owner Thomas Gay.

• Peoples Pharmacy was recently sold to Kimberli Wiley, the owner of CPRx Pharmacy. Wiley is launching a collaboration with Victory Medical center to offer GLP-1s, peptides and in-store nurse practitioners.

This November, four candidates are running to lead the Texas Comptroller's Office and serve as the state's chief financial officer.

The overview: Libertarian V. Alonzo Echavarria-Garza, Democrat Sarah Eckhardt, Green Party candidate Shehla Faizi and Republican Don Huffines are running for comptroller. Huffines, whom Gov. Greg Abbott appointed to the office in July, is considered the incumbent in this race.

How it works: The comptroller oversees government spending and administers the state's $1 billion education savings account program, which launched ahead of the 2026-27 school year.

Looking ahead: Early voting runs from Oct. 19-30 in the midterm election, and Election Day is Nov. 3.